


For all Intents and Purpose

by Phoenix_before_the_flame



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Historical, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 03:28:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21264323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenix_before_the_flame/pseuds/Phoenix_before_the_flame
Summary: For all intents and purpose, Lucy already knew her whole life, step by planned out step. Or maybe she didn't when someone quite pink comes crashing through her window. (Nalu, 1850's AU)





	For all Intents and Purpose

**Author's Note:**

> Yes! I still write! And i wrote this based off Yaushie's au on tumblr! Go check it out!  
And leave comments and kudos! Please enjoy!

She always knew what to expect of herself, what she was expected to do. Who she was meant to be. Who her father moulded her to be.

Lucy had never met her bethrothed, Zeref, before arriving on the estate, lush and sprawling but false in its perfection. She knew behind the facade that people associated with her father lay something cold and hurtful. Easily turning wicked when the business deal called for it.

And she was right.

The opulence hardly made her blink, nothing catching her eyes as she was led down the vast halls, all silvers and grays and dead and boring. Her pale blue gown glowed in the bleakness. The servants that hurried about were just the same as the mansion they cared for.

Lifeless.

And when the door to the study swung open any hopes she had of happiness fled from her mind when she saw the same lifelessness from the man that stood in its center, clipped and perfect.

It was in his eyes, the uncurledness of his lips, the smoothing of his brows that never creased in worry. He radiated it, just as her father did.

Without a word she was handed off, a silent nod between the two men as she sealed their transaction before her father left. No goodbye, or hug or even a glance at her when he clicked the door shut behind him.

Her husband- the taste of the word nasty on her tongue, not all she ever hoped it be as a child- turned to her with not a warmth in his eyes and a twitch of his lips in what Lucy thought might’ve been smile before they pressed to the back of her gloved hand in a gentlemanly manner.

She almost grimaced at the chill that made her skin crawl, but kept it hidden behind a well formed mask of a smile, one that she trained years to shape.

After that he left her. Left her to wander the compound, wander the house and wander the woods with her thoughts in tow. Briefly she wondered to escape into the thickets, let the trees take her. Surely that would be a better life than this. But she didn’t, turning back to the emptiness that awaited her as the sun set.

In her room Lucy stared blankly at the bland ceiling, looking the same as the walls that surrounded her, the decorations sparse. She didn’t share rooms with her bethrothed, oh no. She meant nothing to him but just a piece, a pawn in his monopoly won over to his side.

And now she would sit in this house, sitting neatly and prettily like the rest of the decorations in the house for the rest of her days, dusted off by the servants when she was to be brought out into the light.

Then her window banged open, the chill night air quick to enter alongside the man clambering through noisily.

He was dirtied, the scent of earth and green fresh as it rolled off what used to be upperclass clothing and onto the floor as he rose to his feet, eyes bright when they met hers and froze,obviously not expecting a soul in the room. They reflected the shock in her eyes.

No words were said as he awkwardly shuffled out, never breaking eye contact, not even to blink. But his hair, Lucy noted as he darted through the door with a squawk, through the dirt and the gloom the pink shone through. It was the only thing of colour she’d seen in the house all that day.

She saw him again wandering around, a bright flash out her eye corners as he zipped past, never staying too still or in one place for too long. He was Natsu, Lucy learnt over breakfast as his brother’s name passed Zeref’s lips with a disgusted sneer.

Troublesome. A bother. Childish. Among other terms that were far from endearment.

For what he lacked in love he made up for in distaste for the only person who seemed to inspire emotion from him.

With good reason she might’ve supposed as his intricate traps and playful pranks disrupted the runnings of the household and raised Zeref’s ire. His wild laughter was something she’d come to expect on a daily basis with the madness he caused. And she couldn’t help but enjoy it,the only spark of light in her new life, making her look forward to each new day to see what he would bring.

And when they met properly- well as proper as falling out an apple tree could be- the spark became something else. Something that she never knew, something that she never expected.

They grew close, her only companion in the darkness. His words and tall tales of adventure and hidden snark easily matched with her quick wit. Wit that she hadn’t used in many years.

He pulled unbecoming laughs from her, louder in her ears as they bounced off the bland walls. He snuck her out, down through the window in her nightgown to be dirtied in the creek and run wild, playing like children in the wee hours of the night that bled into the morning.

He taunted and he teased and was flustered when she shot it back at him. He chuckled at her soft jokes at the snooty upperclass invited to Zeref’s excessive parties. He was warm, and always close and listened keenly, hanging onto her every word.

He made her playful, turning the twisting cold halls into a sport to race through despite the watchful eyes of the help, sneaking longing touches around corners that grew more hungered and bold with each passing day.

And now as the season changes to cold, she huddles close to Natsu’s side, twining his hand with hers. Lucy’s lip twitched with a smile before they pressed together on the back of his hand, her mask broken and expectactions long forgotten as the rough warmth beneath her lips blossomed in her cheeks and broadened her smile.

Her lover- a word she never expected to use sweet on her tongue, savouring the taste just as much as she savoured his name- beamed down at her with stained red cheeks and a whispered promise to her ear when he drew her even closer.

Of the winding paths Lucy had dreamt for herself, the vast array of lives she wanted to have she never thought of one like this, falling to soeep in the arms of her bethrothed’s brother, too wild for even her to make up.

And yet, that was the path she was treading. A path that she chose herself and one from which she would never stray.


End file.
